Has the comparatively undersized Tony Allen found a way to perplex the league's most accomplished scorer?
Kevin Durant shot just 10-of-24 in Tuesday's Game 5 100-99 overtime loss to Memphis and shot just 35 percent from the floor in games 2 through 4, putting second-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in grave peril in their first-round Western conference playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies.
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The Grizzlies now lead the series 3-2, and try as he might to ignore the obvious, the pesky Allen appears to have gotten under the 6-foot-9 OKC sharpshooter's skin.
"I'm worrying about a guy coming from behind trying to block the shot," Durant told ESPN. "I've just got to focus in on the rim and my shot. I can't go out there and think too much, I have to let my instincts take over."
The hard-nosed Allen has made a career of running shooters off screens and pushing them off their spot. Though he's given up some five inches to Durant, this series hasn't been different.
"I'm not being disciplined enough in my shot," Durant said. "I'm either pulling it back too quick or shooting too quick. I'm just staying confident and not reading media or looking at Twitter or Instagram and keeping my mind right. I think before a breakthrough you can go through a tough period so I always put the work in and I have to trust in it."
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